It's 2024! Which groups are up for contract renewal?
Click to viewWow! 2017 was not a good year for groups to debut and see their contract through. Let's take a look at the groups whose contracts are up this year, share what we think will happen to them, and also reminisce about the groups we lost along the way.
[whos already renewed?]First, let's quickly acknowledge DREAMCATCHER, who announced last year that they had already renewed their contract.
Dreamcatcher debuted under Dreamcatcher Company (FKA Happyface Entertainment) in January, and were an interesting debut both due to them being a redebut of Happyface's failed 2014 venture, Minx, and due to their completely changed sound and image. With two new members and a new rock-and-metal-infused sound, Dreamcatcher were a unique debut on the kpop scene. Though they didn't achieve much chart success for much of their career, they found a true niche for themselves that grew their fandom and success over time, and have staged many successful tours, with soaring physical album sales. All 7 members of Dreamcatcher renewed their contracts a year early last year, and have already continued to put out new material.
It's a similar situation with KARD.
KARD are also able to make a consistent career out of touring thanks to their incredible overseas fandom, and may also be feeling how lucky they are to have survived the April bullying scandal (Somin somehow managed to avoid the fact that she was implicated at every turn, by no longer being a member of April). They renewed their contracts with DSP Media last year, which, everything else aside, is a seriously impressive feat for a co-ed group, a type of group that have always struggled to see out their full contract period, let alone reach renewal. With how poorly Young Posse's debut was received, DSP will need KARD around for a while yet.
[whos yet to renew?]Alice
Alice is in a strange position, and so much just hasn't gone right for them. They debuted under HUNUS, the much-beloathed former home of Topp Dogg and Romeo, with five members and under the name Elris. Their most famous member, Sohee, debuted solo within three years, and in 2020 they added two new members. After their first comeback as seven, they were silent, before the news in 2021 that they were transferring to IOK Company and changing their name to Alice. They returned as seven-membered Alice in mid-2022, and have released three songs so far as Alice. Their last comeback, in early 2023, was a five-membered comeback, with two (original) members on hiatus for 'health issues'. So it's been messy, but also at least they've had some pretty consistent periods, and who knows what their transfer to IOK meant for contracts - did they sign a new one? Did the contract roll over as-is? I suppose we'll find out this year.
Weki Meki
My girls! We know they're not renewing. Their last comeback was in 2021 and it had a markedly lower budget than anything else they'd put out before, and Doyeon having to be absent from promotions was a clear handicap. Since then there's been very little activity, though at least there's been some group and individual content put out. Elly went on Queendom Puzzle, and it's both a blessing and a curse that she didn't debut in whatever that group is called. Doyeon continues her solo modelling and acting gigs, Yoojung debuted solo, Sei does environmental stuff and is back in school, Lucy appears to be in theatre school. What a waste. I wish them all the best in their next endeavours. At least we outlasted all the other post-IOI groups except WJSN, you know?
ONF
ONF are under WM Entertainment, currently home to B1A4, Oh My Girl, and Lee Chaeyeon, and they famously sent all five of their Korean members to the army at the same time. While they debuted in 2017, and I'm going to leave them on this list, contracts can sometimes have extension clauses to allow for military service, so in ONF's case, we may only see maknae U, who is Japanese, make a decision about his contract. WM have successfully negotiated through the renewals of the contracts with B1A4 and Oh My Girl, and ONF had their first post-service comeback recently, so signs may well be good for them!
HashTag
HashTag are a group that never got the attention they deserved, a tale as old as time in kpop. Nonetheless, they've managed to stumble along into 2023. Originally debuting with the hype of being produced by Baby V.O.X's Kan Miyoun, this hype went nowhere for them, and they've put out a few releases over the years. With their lack of success, their contract renewal will likely be in doubt.
A.C.E
A.C.E, like ONF, may have their contract renewal affected by military service - their last member, Chan won't be discharged until February - and several other members have only recently finished their service, with the group releasing their first comeback in a couple years recently due to simultaneous enlistments. A.C.E may not be as big as other groups but are beloved by their fandom, for making waves at debut with their bootyshorts styling, to releasing a song in support of the LGBTQ+ fandom.
Golden Child
Golden Child are under Woollim, who are maybe not the best agency for artist retention. Infinite left and had to apply for their group trademarks to set up their own company with; only one of the Lovelyz members chose to re-sign; they even lost one of their post-Iz*one members to another company, and Kwon Eunbi barely managed to make waves until a chance viral success last year (which we love for her). Golden Child have had a few scandals through the years, which I know are mostly fans being uber-sensitive to them hanging out with women, but they'll nonetheless have affected the group. At the same time, who else do Woollim have that bring in any money, apart from recently Eunbi? Rocket Punch and Drippin aren't exactly setting out a good future for the company. They also have a lot of members, and have already lost one to health issues along the way, which makes a full group renewal less likely.
THE BOYZ
Will The Boyz renew? I don't know them well but they seem to have done well for themselves, having a good run on Kingdom, consistently putting out material, and only losing one member of their very large group so far. It's the largeness of the group that might get them though - even if most of them do renew, it's unusual for a group with member numbers in the double digits to not lose some come contract renewal time. Deobis, who are The Boyz most likely to lose? IST Entertainment also manages Apink, who still sell well but release songs rarely, and Weeekly, who are in a strange place in their career due to unpopular concept switch-ups.
[Which groups didnt finish their contracts?]Which groups didn't finish their contracts?
It's fair to say that 2017 was a bad year to debut. A lot of it will be chance, and debuting under entertainment companies that just couldn't hack it; there were no debuts from particularly big companies this year, who tend to guarantee consistency for groups. It's likely also going to be a year of debuts that really suffered from COVID restrictions; 2020 would have been their third or fourth year of activity, a time when they should have been hitting their peak, and many groups would not have been able to really pull in the money that they should have from live performances and concerts.
That said, many groups failed before even trying to last the restrictions out. Post-Produce 101 group Favorite released their last single, LIE, in 2020, and while there's been no official news about their contracts, they've released nothing since, which is a shame, because they released nothing but bangers. Member Gaeul still occasionally pops up in her bestie Somi's video blogs, so maybe she'll go into dancing and/or some sort of production role. Busters is a really weird group, who never technically disbanded, but they started referring to their first lineup as 'Busters Beta', and several of those original members (Yeseo and Myungseo for example) have already debuted in newer groups (and isn't it telling how they're less sexualised in these groups than they were as literal children in Busters? Disgusting).
Some groups barely made it out the gate. Good Day, a 10-member group under C9 Entertainment, had one release and then promptly disbanded, with the group dividing roughly in half - half would go on to redebut under C9 as cignature, and half would join a new nugu company with ex-C9 staff and redebut as Redsquare (and then redebut as Irris). 14U (who ironically had 15 members) had a year of activity with three releases, and then quietly disbanded in 2019, and several of their members have already popped up in new groups.
A big-name loss was, of course, Pristin, a group that should have had far more success. I think people remember Pristin slightly with rosy-eyed glasses; Wee Woo was truly a fun debut, but We Like received (deservedly) split reactions, and considering that it was a comeback that was largely produced by the members themselves, it shows an alarming lack of investment from Pledis so early in their career. The group went on to release a sub-unit after only two releases - and the sub-unit was controversial for seemingly just being the group stripped of its less popular members, which led people to wonder if Pledis was going to drop members from the group. Instead they dropped the whole group; three stayed with the company, in artist and production capacities, while seven left the group. Four would attempt a redebut in Hinapia, but this would also go nowhere. A few members have gone into acting, and there's been some talk recently that Pristin's disbandment may have been caused by member discord, which if true would be a shame but not at all unheard of in kpop. Interestingly, Pledis has since stopped attempting to create girl groups, and will be debuting their first new boy group in many years soon.
Who else from 2017 do you miss omona? What do you think is going to happen with all these groups?
source: kpopki, Dreamcatcher official, KARD, ALICE, fantagio, ONF OFFICIAL, HashTag_official, Official A.C.E, woolliment, The Boyz